


Sick of Losing Soulmates

by aesthetic_shitpost



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Tuck Everlasting - Miller/Tysen/Shear & Federle
Genre: Be More Chill Big Bang, F/M, Immortality, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Multi, Reincarnation, Soulmates, but like immortal characters trying to not be immortal, it's a tuck everlasting au there's immortals, real loosey goosey soulmate reincarnation shit, rich's brother is miles from tuck ev now, the major character death has mostly to do with reincarnation don't worry about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 19:10:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17883620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aesthetic_shitpost/pseuds/aesthetic_shitpost
Summary: Michael Mell and his family have been immortal since 1808. He's met his soulmates three times over. Now his family has been reincarnated into the twenty-first century. What technological wonders will this new millennium have in store?(Hint: it rhymes with quip and will ruin your life!...probably.)-a tuck everlasting au! don't worry if you haven't seen it, the actual events of tuck ev are really only alluded to. if you like reincarnation, immortality, meremine, and really vague soulmate aus, then this fic is for you.





	Sick of Losing Soulmates

**Author's Note:**

> when i decided to join the bmc big bang, i thought to myself, "it might be the longest thing i've ever written, but i've got six months to do it! it'll be fine." 
> 
> and then i forgot about it from early december to about two weeks ago 
> 
> so i wrote a good portion of this in the past week (about... 7k??) and most of the ending today, so i'll probably come back later and edit some stuff because i want to get it out on time now (even though it's a day late, oops) and stop worrying about it so i have time to do other things.
> 
> thanks to my friend rhi (pumakittycat on tumblr) for introducing me to tuck everlasting and being the first one to come with this au that i've butchered so badly (literally, the gdocs title for this was 'my butchered version of rhi's tuck everlasting au'), and to the organizers of this event, which was super cool and i would probably like to do again? we'll see about that once college starts lmao
> 
> this is supposed to have art, but it's not here yet, so when it is i'll edit it in! probably when i do that other edit i talked about earlier
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: lots of talk about suicide, suicidal ideation, etc. it's sort of... different because it's immortal characters wanting to stop being immortal, but still watch out! i won't be offended if u don't read! pls take care of yourself!
> 
> title from "sick of losing soulmates" by dodie

_time and hearts will wear us thin_

_so which path will you take?_

_cause we both know a break_

_does exactly what it says on the tin_

_what the hell would i be without you?_

_brave face talk so lightly, hide the truth_

_cause i'm sick of losing soulmates_

_so where do we begin?_

_i can finally see you're as fucked up as me,_

_so how do we win?_

_yeah i'm sick of losing soulmates_

_won't be alone again_

_i can finally see you're as fucked up as me,_

_so how do we win?_

-oOo-

Michael had been going to die, once. He had almost wanted it. He had agreed with the whole thing. But instead of the sweet release of death he had to watch his family pass away, knowing that they would come back, ready to wait for centuries if need be.

  
  
And he did.

  
  
He waited for what felt like forever but was only fifty years. A short time compared to how long he’s been alive, but an eternity when there’s no one to spend it with.

  
  
It’s around the 2010s, with its pop stars and new technologies popping up all over the place, that he sees a familiar face for the first time. Far younger than he’s accustomed to seeing, but it’s him - Rich Goranski, his brother in all but last name. He looks like he’s maybe twelve, and Michael feels physical pain at the sight of him paired with the inability to approach him.

  
  
So he waits.

 

He is no stranger to waiting - with more than two hundred years of living under his belt, patience is a necessity. So he waits until he can find someone to watch over his siblings and soulmates who won’t think he’s crazy, who will understand him and protect them. He finds the man he used to call “father” in another life.

 

He finds Mr. Reyes.

  
  
Michael doesn’t want to interfere with the others when they’re only freshmen, but he knows that he’ll need someone to watch over them, if only for his own mental wellbeing - and he knows just the man for the job.

  
  
Mr. Reyes works at a Hobby Lobby across the street from the local high school. Michael walks through the door on a hot August day, ringing a bell as the door opens to announce his presence. Mr. Reyes isn’t at the register - no one is, actually - so Michael finds a door labeled “Staff Only” and walks through it. No one is inside the poor excuse for a lounge, but there's a Hot Pocket in the microwave, so someone must be here. Michael hears a toilet flush in another room.

  
  
Mr. Reyes walks in.

 

He blinks confusedly, because the last time he checked, there were no high-school aged kids working there.

  
  
"Who're you?" He asks, and Michael dies a bit inside, but he keeps up a brave front and plasters a smile on his face.

  
  
"Mr. Reyes? I'm Michael Mell. I'm here to talk to you about something."

  
  
Mr. Reyes is clearly suspicious of him, which is fair. Michael obviously doesn't work here, yet he's sitting in an employees-only room and asking a complete stranger (as far as he knows) to talk to him.

  
  
Mr. Reyes warily sits down across from him. "What about?"

  
  
Michael supposes it's best to start from the beginning. 

  
  
"You are not a stranger to me," he says. "We've met before. You just don't remember." He swallows, looks him in eye and can see the wariness clearing away in favor of surprise. "I'm here to help you remember."

  
  
"When did we meet?" Mr Reyes asks. A fair question. Michael tilts his head back, thinking.

  
  
"1805?" He says, the disbelief in Mr. Reyes' eyes making it a question.

  
  
"1805?!" The man exclaims. "Neither of us were alive back then! I was born in '72!" His gaze lands heavy on the boy sitting across from him. "And you're just a kid! You're pulling my leg, aren't you?"

  
  
"I was born in 1791. I'm two hundred and twenty-one years old," Michael says calmly. "I am immortal." He swallows. "And you used to be too."

  
  
Mr. Reyes is struck speechless. Michael takes pity on him and keeps talking. 

  
  
"A few years after we met, we discovered a spring near our house. We drank from it. We didn't know any better. It took us a few years to realize that we had stopped aging. The water was magic or something. But not in a good way," he said bitterly. "It cursed us with immortality, unable to die unless… well, unless a highly unlikely, very specific chain of events occurs. It took us a while to realize how much of a curse had been bestowed upon us. We went to someone who could do something about it. It took nearly three years of begging before they would even believe us, and a few more years before they agreed to let us die." He laughed. "Well, not all of us. They wanted to keep one of us alive, to study us, to see what happens. They picked me." Michael's expressions hardens. "So I watched my family die, but I knew you would come again. You see, over the whole twentieth century there were two people who I kept meeting over and over again, in every life they lived." He meets Mr. Reyes' gaze steadily. "But the thing is, when you're reincarnated, you don't remember anything from your past life unless someone who was there shows you. Mr. Reyes, after they killed you, you got reincarnated. You and the rest of our family. When they come of age, I'll tell them too. But you’re the only one who isn't in middle school right now, so I'm coming to you first." He leans forward, towards a shell-shocked Mr Reyes. "I want you to help me watch over them. They're going to be at Middleborough where you can keep an eye on them. I just want to make sure that they're safe," he said, the sincerity clear in his voice. 

  
  
"Our family," Mr. Reyes said. "You said... 'our family?'"

  
  
Michael nodded, the genuine feelings in his eyes uncomfortable to the man who had perhaps known him for only five minutes.

  
  
"Michael," he asked slowly. "Who was I to you?"

  
  
The boy swallowed and looked away. "You were... You were a lot of things to me. To us," he admitted. "You have to understand, when I say 'our family' I don't mean a blood relation. We all just found each other and cared for each other, and the century we spent immortal together certainly didn't hurt."

  
  
"But who was I to you, specifically?" Mr. Reyes pressed.

  
  
Michael licked his lips and looked away. "You were something of a... father figure to me," he confessed. "My own parents died when I was a child, and when I met you, you were the first adult to care about me in a long time." He swallowed, still avoiding Mr. Reyes' eyes. 

  
  
"Oh," said the man himself, leaning back in his chair. He clearly didn't know how to deal with this information either. "So... who are these people you want me to protect?"

  
  
"Wait, so you believe me?" Michael asked incredulously. "You don't think I'm crazy or anything?" 

  
  
"Oh, I'm not sure that I believe you just yet," Mr. Reyes said candidly. "But what can I ask you to do to prove it? You don't know this version of me, so I can’t ask for proof that way. I can ask for the names of the students you want me to watch over, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll be in my class. So unless I remember my past life, I have no proof that you’re really telling the truth. But I have a feeling that you are. And my gut never lies.”

 

Michael blinked. “Alright,” he said. “That was far more logical than I’ve come to expect from you.”

 

“Well, if I listened to anything other than logic right now, I think I’d be screaming and throwing you out of my store,” Mr. Reyes admitted. “But I’ve got a feeling that you’re telling the truth. And it’s not like you’re asking me to do a lot. Just make sure a few students don’t get into too much trouble. I’d be doing that anyway. So, who are the students?”

 

Michael took out a paper list and handed it to Mr. Reyes. “Christine Canigula, Jeremy Heere, Richard Goranski, Jake Dillinger, Chloe Valentine, Brooke Lohst, Jenna Rolan.” He slanted his eyes over to the boy. “These kids were all immortal?”

 

“Well, not all of them,” Michael admitted. “Only Rich, Brooke, you, me, and Rich’s brother Miles were immortal. The rest are our… soulmates, I suppose you could call them.”

 

“Wait, so you’re telling me that soulmates are also real?” Mr. Reyes asked. “Next you’re going to say that you’ve met aliens.”

 

“No aliens over here,” Michael said. “But yes, soulmates are a thing. Kind of. It’s not super obvious like the pop culture depictions of soulmates. But in every life they live they always find each other.”

 

Mr. Reyes nodded slowly. “So one of those kids is your soulmate?”

 

Michael smiled. “Two of them, actually. Jeremy and Christine.”

 

Mr. Reyes furrowed his brow. “You can have two soulmates?”

 

Michael shrugged. “Apparently.”

 

“Alright,” Mr. Reyes said.

 

The two sat in an increasingly awkward silence as Mr. Reyes absorbed everything that Michael had told him over the last twenty minutes.

 

“How do I remember my past life?” Mr. Reyes asked after a few minutes, breaking the silence.

 

“I’m not really sure of the specifics of it,” admitted Michael. “I mean, I’ve never had to do it, but I’ve had it described to me as a really strong sense of deja vu. It doesn’t come back all at once unless you’re really lucky - or unlucky,” he noted with a chuckle. “Apparently it gives you a hell of a headache. But yeah, you meet someone that you knew before and the things they do, the things they talk about, the things  _ you _ do, they all make you start to remember. Even if you don’t meet someone from your past life, you can still remember if something really significant happens similarly to a past life.”

 

“So why haven’t I remembered yet?” Mr. Reyes asked. “I mean, you’re here.” He gestured to where Michael was sitting. “You’ve told me about everything. From what you said, I should’ve remembered something by now.”

 

Michael only gave him a helpless shrug. “I told you, I don’t really know how it works. Maybe it’ll just take a while this time around? I mean, you do have about two centuries of living to remember.”

 

The impossibly large number stunned the man into silence. “Two - two whole centuries?” He echoed, his face pale. “Jesus Christ.” He looked at Michael, his eyes focusing on him in a way that they hadn’t been before. “How old are you again?” He sounded almost like he was afraid of the answer.

 

“I’m two hundred and twenty-one,” Michael said. “When you died, you were two hundred and six years old. This is the first time you’ve ever been younger than me.” Michael gave him a bittersweet smile. “Oh, how the tables have turned, right?”

 

Mr. Reyes didn’t respond for a second. “Indeed,” he said slowly. Michael got the sense that he wasn’t really responding to what he said, too occupied with the new knowledge.

 

They sat in the break room an awkward minute more before Michael felt it was time to make his exit. “Alright, well, that was all I came here to tell you. Here’s my email,” he said, writing it on the back of the list he had given him, “in case you want to contact me. I’ll come and visit you probably once or twice a month to check on my friends.” He stood from the chair and made his way to the door. He lingered for a moment, drinking in the sight of his newly-mortal father figure and dithering over whether he should say what was on his mind. “I know you can’t say the same,” Michael said, looking over his shoulder but his eyes on the floor, “but it was really nice to see you again.”

 

With that, the boy left the store, the jingling bell over the entrance serving as the soundtrack to Mr. Reyes rearranging everything he ever thought he knew about his life. The man sighed and took out his forgotten hot pocket from the microwave. He was going to take the longest, most justified break ever.

 

-oOo-

 

The year was 1805, and Michael was living on the streets. His parents had died a few years back, and they hadn’t been very well off to begin with. Michael spent the days begging on corners and avoiding getting involved in gang conflicts, and Monday through Saturday, he liked to peek in on school. He had learned his alphabet this way, and was slowly figuring out words like “cat” and “rug”. As he looked into the classroom now, he could see numbers on the chalkboard. Arithmetic wasn’t as useful as letters were, but he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to learn. 

 

When the lesson was done, Michael sat against the wall a few feet away from the door and tried to look as pitiful as possible, in the unlikely event that one of the children had a few pennies to spare. No one looked in his direction, though, so he distracted himself with writing out the alphabet and the new numbers that he had learned that day in the dirt. His penmanship wasn’t the best, but he was proud that he could read at all.

 

He had just gotten to 6 when he was interrupted by a boot stepping on the letter A. Michael looked up indignantly and was about to give whoever it was a piece of his mind - but the words died on his lips when he realized that it was the schoolteacher. 

 

“Hello, boy. I’ve seen you at the window a few times before, haven’t I?” 

 

Michael froze up in panic. “Uh, y-yes sir! Don’t worry, I’ll stop it, I don’t want to distract you in your teaching,” he said frantically.

 

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” The teacher sighed. “What’s your name, boy?”

 

Michael’s eyes widened. “W-what?” Why would a well-to-do man like him want to know a street urchin’s name?

 

“Your name? I assume you have one, yes?” He repeated, an eyebrow arched.

 

“Yes sir.” He swallowed. “Uh, my name is Michael. Michael Mell.”

 

The man nodded. “And where are your parents, Mr. Mell, to be letting a boy like yourself outside at all hours like this?” 

 

Michael looked down shamefully. “My parents are dead, sir. They have been for many years.” He didn’t like to talk about them. Why did this guy care what he was doing, anyway? Why did he have to bring up bad memories?

 

Nevertheless, he waited with bated breath to see the schoolteacher’s reaction.

 

He looked taken aback by this information at first (though Michael didn’t see why - he was living on the streets, connect the dots), then sad, then straightened up, resolved. “Well. Come inside, then.”

 

The boy’s brow creased. “Sir?”

 

“You must be freezing,” the man said as if it explained anything. “How long have you been living on the streets?”

 

“A few years, sir.”

 

The teacher looked displeased and shook his head. “Now, that just won’t do. Come inside and I’ll make you some tea.”

 

And despite the ridiculousness of this whole encounter, Michael hadn’t been warm in a long time - New Hampshire winters can be brutal when you’re a homeless fourteen year old. So even though he knew he shouldn’t trust strangers, he couldn’t resist this offer. 

 

The schoolteacher - Mr. Reyes, as he had introduced himself - made him a cup of tea and sat down across from him at the table. And they talked.

 

They talked about Michael’s circumstances, how his parents died, what he had been doing since their deaths. They talked about Mr. Reyes, about his life, his work, what he was doing letting Michael into his house.

 

"You can stay here with me," Mr. Reyes said. "The streets are no place for a young boy such as yourself to live. You'll stay with me for the time being."

 

“The time being?" Michael asked.

 

“Until better circumstances arrive, or you decide you want to leave, or until whatever else that would mean you do not live here anymore."

 

Michael’s eyes widened incredulously. "So you're saying I can stay with you indefinitely?"

 

Mr. Reyes nodded.

 

Michael burst out, "But  _ why, _ sir? We just met today! Why are you extending such hospitality to a stranger?"

 

Mr. Reyes looked to the side. "I can’t - It would not be -” He sighed, getting his thoughts in order. “I cannot in good conscience leave a child on the streets to starve,” he said carefully. “And frankly, Michael, I’m taking you in because I can.”

 

Michael’s eyes narrowed as he thought it over. He suspected there was more to his explanation than that, but if this was happening, he figured he had enough time to weasel it out of him.

 

“Alright,” he said slowly. “I suppose I could live with you for a while.”

 

Mr. Reyes suppressed a smile. “Wonderful. I presume you don’t have any belongings to move in?” Michael shook his head. “Then I suppose we should get started on your education.”

 

“Sir?”

 

“No one living in my house will be uneducated,” the teacher declared. “Now, what do you know of the alphabet?”

  
-oOo-

 

Middleborough High was instituting a new policy this year: the students would have the same homeroom with the same teacher for all four years of high school. Mr. Reyes didn't know how it had happened, but all of the students Michael had charged him with protecting were in his homeroom. One of them, Christine Canigula, was also in his Drama class.    
  
He supposed it was an enormous stroke of luck that all seven of them were guaranteed to be in his class until graduation - that, or someone (Michael) had hacked into the school's computer system and changed their schedules. Either way, it was awfully convenient.    
  
Homeroom was the first class of the school year, and as all the students filed into his classroom he could tell which ones which ones were excited for high school and which ones just wanted more time to sleep in. The bell rang, and he began to take attendance, noting the faces of Michael's friends. He hadn't given them any form of assigned seating, so he also made sure to take note of where they were sitting, who they might already be friends with. Chloe, Brooke, Jenna, and Jake were all sitting together and chatting. Rich was sitting somewhat near them, but he was keeping to himself. Both Christine and Jeremy were sitting by themselves, but while Jeremy seemed bothered by that, Christine was excitedly bouncing in her seat, clearly enthusiastic about the coming school year.

 

After that initial meeting, Michael dropped by Hobby Lobby every two weeks or so to see how his friends were doing. Mr. Reyes told him stories of their shenanigans during homeroom and Christine doing improv and how they all like each other (Michael probably wasn’t too happy to hear that Jeremy and Rich were alone and shunned, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it until next year. Mr. Reyes could assign seating all he wanted, but it wouldn’t change the fact that they were social outcasts.)

 

As the school year wore on, Michael was treated to all of the gossip about the other freshmen, all of the drama that happened inside Mr. Reyes’ classroom, and all of Mr. Reyes’ frustration about the school play. None of the measly fifteen kids he had in drama club had any major talent (except for Christine, but she was only a freshman) and they had no one to help with tech, which meant that Mr. Reyes had to stay after school until 8 or 9 most nights -

 

At this point Michael interrupted his ramblings. “Maybe I could help?” He offered.

 

Mr. Reyes stared, eyes bloodshot. “Wouldn’t that - blow your cover?” He asked, feeling silly for using such a phrase when he wasn’t even a secret agent. “You don’t want them to know you until next year.”

 

Michael shrugged. “The kids leave at, like, seven, right? That means that you’re alone for about two hours. I could come and help during that time.” He looked thoughtful. “Actually, if there’s anything I could do from home, I don’t really need to sleep as much as normal people do.”

 

Now that was an interesting question. Where did Michael live? And for that matter, what did he do all day when he’s not with Mr. Reyes?

 

Mr. Reyes pushed the questions out of his mind. It didn’t matter right now. What mattered was answering Michael’s question.

 

“That would be great, Michael. I would really appreciate that.” He smiled at the boy.

 

“So which days should I come in? And what time?” Michael asked. “And actually, I’m not sure that I really know how to get to the school…” He added bashfully.

 

Mr. Reyes shook his head in disbelief. “You know what? I’ll just text you the details.” He took out his phone from his pocket and opened up a new contact. “Here, put in your number.” A thought occurred to him. His eyes widened. “Wait, you do have a phone, right?”

 

Michael sighed. “Yes, I have a phone,” he said. “I’ve gotta say, I haven’t really used it that much, but I know how to work it.” He shot Mr. Reyes a wry look. “If anything, being over two hundred years old just means that I know how to adapt.” He took Mr. Reyes’ phone and entered his contact information. “There. Now you can text me.”

 

Once they had said their goodbyes to each other, Mr. Reyes did.

 

**Reyes:** You can come to help me any weekday after 7. The students typically leave at around 6:30, but I’ll text you if any of them stay later than that. I’ll be in the auditorium, so go to door 18 in the front parking lot.

 

**Michael:** Thanks. Do you want me to bring you any food?

 

**Reyes:**  That would be great, actually. As long as it won’t make a mess, feel free to bring it.

 

**Michael:** Alright. See you tomorrow!

 

Tomorrow came and everything went exactly as they had planned. The last student left at 6:35 and Michael arrived at 7:03 bearing Chipotle. They sat and ate and talked, all in between working on the set for Middleborough’s school play. The next day, Michael brought Subway. The day after that, he brought burgers. The day after that broke their new tradition because it was a weekend, but on Monday they quickly settled back into the swing of things. Michael learned what Mr. Reyes liked on his sandwiches and Michael learned about the behind-the-scenes stress of being a high school drama teacher.

 

Over the course of the few weeks leading up to the big show, Mr. Reyes and Michael got into a rhythm of working together and of simply being together. Mr. Reyes couldn’t imagine how strange it was for Michael to be hanging out with the reincarnation of his foster father who didn’t remember him at all. 

 

One day, a few weeks into these meetings, Michael mentioned his hobbies. “I like listening to music,” he said. “And video games, and reading.”

 

“Is that what you do when I’m not around?” Mr. Reyes asked. This train of thought brought back all of those questions from when they’d started this arrangement. What did Michael do? Where did he live?

 

“Well, I used to travel a lot,” the boy in question said. “I used to travel all over the world. But when you died… I couldn’t take the chance of being gone when I could find you again.”

 

“So… you’ve just been here for forty years?” Mr. Reyes asked dumbly.

 

Michael shrugged. “It’s not that bad. And it’s way easier to avoid rumors of immortality if you just live in the forest.”

 

He lived  _ where? _ “You live  _ where?” _ Mr. Reyes managed to get out.

 

“In our old cabin in the forest,” Michael said. “You lived there for, oh, try a hundred years or so. Don’t get on my case about me living there for just forty.”

 

“But you were  _ alone,” _ said Mr. Reyes plaintively. “I had Brooke and Rich and Miles.” (He didn’t know that a second ago.) “You had no one.” Forty years alone, unable to make even the flightiest of acquaintances in fear of getting found out - well, wasn’t that just a soul-crushing thought.

 

“And that cabin has been there since 1809,” Mr. Reyes added, suddenly remembering facts from long ago. “It must be nearly falling apart by now.”

 

“I’ve made some updates!” Michael said, indignant. Then deflated under Mr. Reyes’ serious gaze. “But yes, it’s very… rickety.”

 

“Well, then. That settles it.” Mr. Reyes said, eyes resting on Michael as he made the same decision he had made over two hundred years ago. “You’ll stay with me.”

 

Michael fought back the deja vu in favor of shock. “What?” He said, too surprised to think of anything else.

 

“I mean just what I said, Michael,” replied Mr. Reyes. “You’ll stay with me. That old house is no place for a young man such as yourself.”

 

Michael couldn’t find it in himself to argue, not when he really just wanted things back to the way they used to be. So he nodded and smiled, and by Monday he was all moved in.

 

It was strange, living with Mr. Reyes again. They had to coordinate their schedules, something neither of them were accustomed to after having lived alone for so long. But it was strange in a different way, too: they felt like there was something missing. There was no Rich waking him up in the morning, no Brooke using the bathroom for too long, no Miles greeting him with freshly-scrambled eggs when he came downstairs. There was only Mr. Reyes, who in this life, was inordinately fond of Hot Pockets, and seemed to have at least two every day. Well, Michael supposed, everyone had their quirks. He didn’t care if there were too many Hot Pockets in the house as long as he got to live with his foster father again.

 

As the weeks on, Middleborough’s play got closer and closer to opening night. Michael continued to help with the set when no students were around. Two weeks before the show, the head tech student whatever got sick or broke their arm or something - point was, they couldn’t do the show. Mr. Reyes somehow convinced Michael to do it instead. (Michael had argued. “I don’t want anyone to recognize me next year,” he reminded Mr. Reyes.

 

“But Michael,” the teacher had all but whined, “we have literally no one who can do it.”

 

“So what makes you think I can?” Michael retorted.

 

Mr. Reyes rolled his eyes at him, a mannerism he had clearly picked up from hanging around teenagers nine months out of the year. “Don’t give me that clueless bullshit, Michael. I know how much free time you had while this stuff was being invented. You must know  _ something _ about it.”

 

Michael was suspiciously silent. “...Okay, you got me,” he admitted. “But that still doesn’t solve the issue of people knowing me.”

 

Mr. Reyes waved a hand dismissively. “You’ll just stay in the tech box the whole time by yourself. If you really need help, we can get a senior to do it - someone who won’t even be here next year.”

 

Michael thought it over. Mr. Reyes was really sweetening the deal, and he knew it. “Fine,” he agreed begrudgingly. “But you can’t call me Michael. Call me some fake name.”

 

“Whatever it takes to get a good techie,” Mr. Reyes said.)

 

“And everyone please give a round of applause to our new techie Jesse, who is here on very short notice after Mr. Goranski broke his arm. It is regrettable that our reigning techie is not able to be head techie for his senior year play, but at least he’ll be able to help the newbie.” A crowd of dead-eyed drama kids gave lackluster applause in the direction of the tech box, and Michael smiled uncomfortably before remembering that they couldn’t see him. 

 

“Just ignore them,” said the senior next to him. “You’ll never talk to them anyway.” Both of his arms were in neon green casts. He didn’t look happy about it.

 

“Uh, okay. I’m Jesse, by the way.” Michael almost stuck his hand out for the other boy to shake until he realized his near-error. Instead he made an awkward motion with his hand before letting it rest on his thigh.

 

The other boy looked like he knew exactly what Michael had just almost done and gave him what bordered on a dirty look. “Miles.” 

 

Michael drew in a sharp breath. He hadn’t really been looking before, but now that he was paying attention… 

 

The same dark hair.

 

The same blue eyes.

 

The same fucking  _ face. _

 

It was Miles.

 

Michael hadn’t recognized him at first because he had never seen him at any age other than twenty-two, but now he was unmistakable. Miles, his foster brother, was really back. And he was the techie who broke both of his arms that Michael was replacing.

 

Oh boy.

 

“So, do you know anything about this stuff?” Miles asked, breaking him out of his frantic thoughts. 

 

“Yeah,” replied Michael. “I’m not as familiar with all of this new stuff, though.” He gestured at the shiny switchboard and the glossy computer screen. The last time he had actually worked with this kind of stuff, it had been the late nineties, and he had taken a class at the local college for fun.

 

“Well,” Miles said, “I’ll teach you.”

 

-oOo-

 

When Michael came home that day, he couldn’t think of a good way to tell Mr. Reyes. He didn’t know how much the other man remembered of their old life, so he didn’t know if this sudden reappearance of their reincarnated family member would have any effect on him. He ended up broaching the topic during their dinner.

 

“So, uh… I met someone today,” he said. 

 

Mr. Reyes squinted at him. “Don’t tell me that you have another soulmate that you didn’t know about.”

 

“I don’t, I don’t, it’s nothing like that, I promise,” he rushed to say. “It’s… It’s someone I didn’t think I’d see again.”

 

Mr. Reyes kept cutting his chicken. “Spit it out, boy,” he said gruffly. “You don’t need to tiptoe around it or me.”

 

Michael steeled himself and spat it out. “I found Miles.”

 

Mr. Reyes’ head jerked up and his knife screeched on the plate as he suddenly gripped it too hard. “You found Miles?” His eyes were wide. “Where?”

 

“He was the head techie who broke his arm,” Michael said. “I didn’t recognize him at first, because I’ve never seen him so young, but then he introduced himself and I - it was him.”  _ My brother, _ he thought and didn’t say. 

 

“Miles Goranski,” Mr. Reyes breathed. “Of course. How could I have missed it, he was right there -”

 

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Michael said. “You didn’t even know who I was until a few months ago. You don’t have all your memories back yet, you had no reason to recognize him.”

 

“But Michael,” Mr. Reyes panted,  _ “I remember.” _

 

-oOo-

 

The year was 1808, and their family was all there: Michael, Rich, Miles, Brooke, and of course, Mr. Reyes. They were traveling down from New Hampshire and were camping out in some forest in New Jersey for the night. There was a spring conveniently near their clearing, and they all filled up their waterskins - even the cat that they had accidentally adopted two weeks into their journey. The only exceptions were the horses.

 

“Well, you can lead a horse to water…” Rich said to Brooke, after leading it to the spring.

 

“I think she knows the phrase,” Miles interrupted. Rich rolled his eyes at him. They were the only two related by blood in their little family, but that didn’t stop anyone from calling each other siblings and calling Mr. Reyes “dad”. 

 

When they got back to their campsite, they found Michael sitting by a tree, an “R” newly carved into its trunk. 

 

“Michael!” Admonished Mr. Reyes sternly.

 

“What?” Michael said defensively. “I got bored! And it’s not like the tree can feel it, anyway.”   
  
“Why’d you even carve an ‘R’, Mikey?” Brooke asked.

 

“It’s for Reyes,” he explained. “So that anyone who comes by here knows that the Reyes family was here.”

 

They all felt a little flutter of warmth in their chests at being referred to as the Reyes family, Mr. Reyes in particular. He had taken care of Michael for three years now, so it wasn’t surprising that he said that, but he had only taken in Brooke a year and a half ago, and Rich and Miles after that. It was somewhat shocking to the people in their town that a lifelong bachelor such as himself had taken in four wards, but they wrote it off easily. He was already a teacher and dealt with children everyday. Was it so much of a stretch to want some of his own?

 

Of course, it was still strange for an unmarried man to take in three teenagers and a young adult. The Reyes’ decided to move down south - there was more money to be made where there were more people, and they had more mouths to feed now.

 

So here they were: in some forest in New Jersey, newly immortal, and with no idea of how their lives were about to change.

 

And then, a few years later, Michael and Rich fell out of a tree. 

 

They should have died, falling from such a height. Rich landed on his elbow, Michael on his head. They both sprang to their feet like nothing happened.

 

And to their bodies, nothing had.

 

-

 

Rose took Thomas and left Miles, fearing the unknown and her ageless husband.

 

-

 

The Reyes family split up to hide their immortality, only meeting once every ten years in Middleborough. 

 

-

 

August 1st, 1893. The day they met Christine Canigula. The day they first learned of the Man in the Yellow Suit.

 

The whole adventure was a mixed bag.

 

(Michael met both of his soulmates - Christine Canigula, the girl who almost drank, and Jeremy Heere, the amateur deputy she stayed mortal for. Brooke killed a man.)

 

-

 

  1. They came back to Middleborough. Turns out gravestones of loved ones never get easier to see.



 

(At least Brooke and Rich met their soulmates while they were in town. They were dating the wrong people, but they figured it out in the end.)

 

-

 

  1. Reincarnation was real - and _wonderful._



 

(Until they die in a car crash and you’re the only one who got out alive.) 

 

(But who could call this living, what you’ve got?)

 

-

 

  1. Reincarnation was beautiful and terrifying and you couldn’t follow them out of high school when you’re only seventeen.



 

Maybe you should find a way to end this.

 

-

 

They hadn’t found a way to end it yet. No tried-and-true method of murder or suicide would work on the five of them.

 

Mr. Reyes was the first one to propose taking their little problem to a higher power. 

 

“It’s like I told Christine,” he explained, ignoring Michael’s wince at the mention of his late soulmate. “Life is like a wheel. But we’re not part of it. We’re not changing. We’re not growing. There’s no before for us, no beyond. We’re like a rowboat anchored in the middle of a pond.”

 

Miles nodded. “I want to end this.” He stared each of them in the eye. “I’ve lost…  _ so much. _ Not a day goes by where I don’t miss -” His voice faltered. “Where I don’t miss Thomas.” The others bowed their heads in grief. “I’ll never see him again if I keep living like this. I want to  _ end _ this.”

 

“Me too,” Rich added. “I lost Jake, and that sucked, and I haven’t seen him reincarnated anywhere. I can’t keep waiting around for something that might never happen. I don’t want to rain on your parade, Michael -” His eyes found his brother’s. “But you got lucky.”

 

Michael tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. “I know.” 

 

“Chloe was the love of my life,” Brooke said. “And now she’s gone. I’m with you all.” She turned towards Mr. Reyes. “But how do we end this?”

 

“That’s the issue,” said Mr. Reyes. “I don’t know.”

 

“We could find some really good scientists,” Rich suggested. 

 

“What field of science would even apply to us?” Miles asked.

 

“Magical biology?” 

 

“Hold on!” They looked over to see Michael, a distraught expression on his face. “You - you’re just all deciding to die? Just like that? What, there’s nothing more that this world can offer you? It’s nineteen sixty-five! Have you heard about computers?”

 

Miles cut him off harshly. “It doesn’t matter, Michael.” 

 

“But -”

 

Brooke sighed. “We’re not happy, living like this. It’s not a stable lifestyle, we’re constantly on the move, I can’t make any friends without thinking about how I’ll outlive them all -” Her eyes softened. “We’ve been immortal for over a hundred and fifty years. You can’t tell me you haven’t at least thought about it.”   
  


“I try not to dwell on it,” admitted Michael unhappily. “But… I guess I would like to be literally any age other than seventeen.”

 

Mr. Reyes smiled. “That’s the dream, kid. Now, who has ideas about fixing this?”

 

-

 

They did it.

 

It took them seven years to find someone, convince them they weren’t faking, and actually figure out how to get around their immortality, but they did it.

 

Well.

 

They did it with one exception.

 

See, the organization they found saw the Reyes family as a scientific marvel. They wanted to keep one of them alive for further testing and surveillance and whatever an organization that could circumvent immortality could want. 

 

So Michael volunteered. He had never been super enthusiastic about this plan, anyways. He had taken the most convincing, and he would be (he hoped) the one to be the least sad about it. He consoled himself with the thought that now he would get to see what other marvels this world had to throw at him. The computer thing was already taking off. Michael wondered where else technology could go.

 

-oOo- 

 

The next time that Michael saw Miles, he very carefully didn’t mention anything related to immortality or reincarnation or the past. He and Mr. Reyes had had a long talk about what to do about the whole thing, and they still hadn’t figured out a good time to tell him. They were going to, of course. They couldn’t leave a member of their family in the dark. But they just didn’t know  _ how. _

 

A week went by, then two, then a month, and then it was closing night and Miles still didn’t know. Michael made a spur of the moment decision and invited him home to celebrate the end of the show. For some reason, Miles accepted.

 

The first hurdle was the Mr. Reyes situation. They hadn’t driven there in separate cars, so Mr. Reyes ended up driving them home, Miles quietly confused in the backseat.

 

They got home, Michael led Miles up to his room, and Miles immediately asked, “Why do you live with our drama teacher? How does no one know that you live with our drama teacher?”

 

Michael sighed.  _ Here comes the hard part.  _ “I live with Mr. Reyes because he took me in after my parents died.” 

 

“Oh.” Miles’ indignant curiosity died down a little. “I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s fine, it was a long time ago.” Michael waved his hand dismissively. “And it’s actually pretty easy to keep it a secret, especially considering that I don’t actually go to Middleborough.”

 

Miles blinked. “...Oh. Then where do you go?”

 

“I don’t go to school,” Michael said.

 

“So you’re homeschooled?”

 

“Nope!” Michael said cheerfully as he sat down on his bed.

 

Miles sat next to him, befuddled. “But… isn’t truancy against the law?”

 

Michael laughed. “I’ve been avoiding truancy officers for almost fifty years, that’s not really a problem.”

 

“Fifty years?” Miles questioned. “You’re only seventeen.”

 

“Yeah, and I’ve been seventeen for a while,” Michael retorted calmly.

 

Miles looked over at him uneasily. “What are you playing at, Michael? Is this a joke? Cause I’m not really getting the punchline.”

 

Michael turned to face him with a serious expression. “It’s not a joke, Miles. I’ve been seventeen since 1808. And you were twenty-two up until 1972.”

 

“What?” Mile just looked confused.

 

“Mr. Reyes adopted me in all but name in 1805. He found you and your brother a few years later. And in 1808, we found a spring and drank from it and it turned us immortal,” Michael said. “We were family, Miles.” He took his brother’s hands in his. “We were family for a long time.”

 

Miles was silent for a long time, taking all of this in. When he finally spoke, his voice was scared and weak. “Why do I believe you?” He dropped Michael’s hands and ran his hand through his hair. “This sounds crazy. Magic water that just turns you immortal? That doesn’t just happen. And Rich was there too? If I’m immortal, why don’t I remember any of this? Seems it would be kind of hard to forget.”

 

“You don’t remember because you died,” Michael said bluntly. “Which I guess sort of disproves the whole ‘immortal’ thing… Anyway, you got reincarnated, and when you get reincarnated, you don’t remember your past lives until someone who was there reminds you. So that’s what I’m trying to do now. Remind you.”

 

“I got reincarnated?” Miles said dubiously. He massaged his temples, suddenly feeling a headache coming on. “Look, Michael… I - I don’t -” He was stopped in his rejection by the forlorn look on Michael’s face. (He never could resist it.) “It’s getting late,” he said instead. “I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay?”

 

Michael nodded. Miles had never been more grateful that his house was in walking distance.

 

-

 

The next morning there was a knock on the Reyes’ door as they were eating breakfast. Michael trudged over to answer it, still a little groggy and in low spirits from last night.

 

As soon as he opened the door, he was engulfed in Miles’ embrace.

 

“Michael,” he said into his shoulder.  _ “I remember.” _

 

-oOo-

 

It was their last day of high school, 1964, and Michael wanted to celebrate. “My treat,” he said. Jeremy and Christine gaped at the fancy restaurant. 

 

“But - Michael!” Jeremy exclaimed. “This place is - it has three kinds of forks for one meal!”

 

“This is far too expensive for us,” Christine added, vaguely concerned. 

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Michael said, dismissing their concerns with a wave of his hand. “I can cover it.”

 

“Because of -” Jeremy left the question hanging in the air.

 

“Yes. And I want to treat you guys, so really don’t worry about it.” In this life, Michael had told them that his parents were dead, but they had left him an enormous amount of money. (The money was, of course, from his accumulated saving over a hundred and fifty years). He also told them that he doesn’t like to talk about it, so as to keep them from asking too many questions. He knew that they must be incredibly curious about their rich orphan friend (soon to be boyfriend, if all goes well tonight), but he couldn’t let them get too close to the truth. As much as he’d like to believe that they’d accept him, he knew what had happened with Rose. 

 

Michael pushed the thoughts out of his head as he held the door open for his soulmates, Jeremy holding out an arm for Christine to take. She smiled and tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear.

 

In this life, things were complicated between them. None of them were officially dating yet, but Jeremy clearly had a crush on Christine and maybe on Michael - that one was harder to read, considering the current views on homosexuality. Christine seemed interested in both of them, which was good, and Michael had been trying to flirt with them - subtly at first, to test the waters, and more and more explicitly leading up to tonight, when he will ask to be their boyfriend. He’s got it all planned out: first, a nice dinner to put them at ease and get them into the mood, then Michael will take them out to an empty field and stargaze. And when they’re stargazing, Michael will ask to be theirs, and while he expects some resistance, he hopes that they will accept him.

 

As they sat down at the table, Michael made sure to be a perfect gentleman and pull out Christine and Jeremy’s chairs for them. They both blushed and sat down. Michael prepared himself for a night of wooing.

 

When they finished their dinner (Michael insisting on paying, though Christine did slide him a few bucks), Michael began stage two of his plan and drove them to an open field. It was about 9 PM on a Friday night, so no one was there except for the three of them. Christine immediately hopped out of the car and fell onto the grass, clearly with no intention of getting up. Jeremy smiled and joined her. Michael followed more sedately. As they all got comfortable, he began pointing out constellations: first the Big Dipper, then the Little Dipper, then Cassiopeia and Cygnus and Orion and all the rest.

 

“Do they really just call it the Great Square of Pegasus?” Jeremy asked. “That sounds so boring. At least call it a kite or something, come on.”

 

His remark made both of his soulmates laugh, and Michael couldn’t hold it in any longer. He sat up, not bothering to brush the grass off of his back. Jeremy and Christine followed bemusedly.

 

“I really like you guys,” he blurted out. “Like, in a more-than-friends kinda way.”

 

They were both shocked, but Jeremy was flabbergasted. “You - you mean both of us?” he stammered. His pale, acne-ridden cheeks were quickly turning red, though with excitement or anger, Michael couldn’t tell.

 

Michael turned to face him, taking his hands into his own. “Yes,” he answered calmly. “I’m a little bit in love with you, Jeremy. And I’m a little bit in love with you too, Christine.”

 

His soulmates shared a look with each other. Michael knew he shouldn’t have told them. “It’s fine if you don’t feel the same, I know it was a long shot anyway, I mean who even has two partners at the same time? I’ll just sit in the car, you can tell me when you want to leave -”

 

Christine grabbed his arm, cutting him off. “Michael,” she said. “Don’t freak out. We were just caught off guard.”

 

“Yeah, it’s not every day that your best friend tells you he’s in love with you and your other best friend,” Jeremy added wryly. His face slackened as he realized what had just happened. “Oh my god,” he muttered to himself. “You’re in love with me.” 

 

“So… are you guys okay with it?” Michael asked, hardly daring to get his hopes up. He had known that it would be hard to convince them, especially in this time and this place. Turned out life still held some surprises after all this time.

 

“I am,” Christine spoke, surprising her soulmates (boyfriends?) with her bluntness. She shrugged when she saw them looking at her. “What? I like you both, okay? It makes sense!” She had hardly let her last word out when she was engulfed in Michael’s embrace. Jeremy watched uncertainly as his friends (partners?) revelled in their newfound relationship. Eventually, they turned expectant eyes on Jeremy.

 

“I - I don’t know, Michael,” he said, and immediately felt bad about the sad look on his face. “It’s not that I don’t like you! I mean, I don’t think it is. I’ve never really thought about my feelings for you before and this is a very confusing realization for me,” he explained all in a rush. “I know I like Christine. That one’s easy. I’m supposed to have a crush on Christine!” He exclaimed. “But I’m not supposed to have a crush on Michael. Do you know what happens to boys who like boys?” He whispered. “Not good things! And I’ve never even heard of anyone dating two people at once. Do you see why I’m confused?” He beseeched his friends (partners?), raking his hands through his hair and tugging on the back of his neck.

 

Michael squeezed his hands. “Deep breaths, Jer,” he gently reminded him. “Let’s start simple. Do you like Christine?”

 

Jeremy glanced at her. She gave him a little wave. “Yes.”

 

“Do you want to date Christine?”

 

Jeremy blushed. “Yes.”

 

“Do you like me romantically?”

 

“I thought you said we were starting off easy,” Jeremy grumbled.

 

“Stop stalling and answer the question, Jer.”

 

He sighed and took a moment to examine his feelings. Did he like Michael? When he thought about him, he got a similar feeling as when he thought about Christine. Would he like to take him out on dates and kiss him and be his? It only took a moment of thinking to come to a conclusion. “Yes,” he breathed. He opened his eyes and gazed at Michael. “And before you ask, I would like to date you as well.” His partner (friend?) blushed and looked down. 

 

“Okay, one more question,” he said. “Would you like to date both me and Christine?”

 

Jeremy thought hard about this one. He imagined going on a date with Christine - maybe to the fair or to a drive-in movie. Then he imagined himself going on a date with Michael. It would be a bit different, as they couldn’t hold hands or kiss or any of that in public, but Jeremy thought he would still have a nice time, especially in the dark at the back of a cinema. Now came the moment of truth: Jeremy imagined himself on a date with both of them. He thought it might be quite like what they were doing right now, actually, only with more kissing. And they would be allowed to say stupid, sappy things like, “You look more beautiful than the stars tonight,” and Jeremy would get to cuddle close with both of his crushes and he would be happy. 

 

Michael was still waiting for an answer.  _ Would you like to date both me and Christine? _

 

“Yes,” he breathed. Then, without opening his eyes, he leaned forward and kissed Michael. The other boy responded right away, and Jeremy found himself getting lost in him. With a gasp, he broke away from his boyfriend (his  _ boyfriend! _ ) and looked at Christine, who was watching from the sidelines. She smiled and scooted closer to him, meeting his lips in a sweet kiss. He brought one hand up to hold the back of her neck, his other hand still holding Michael’s. She kissed differently than Michael did, more sweet and passionate. Gently, he broke away from her lips and watched as Michael and Christine enjoyed their own embrace, their boyfriend still holding each of their hands. He smiled to himself. He couldn’t explain it, but something about this new arrangement felt  _ right. _ It was as if the universe was telling him to hold on to these people and never let go.

 

As his girlfriend and boyfriend parted, Jeremy squeezed both of their hands. They turned to look at him.

 

“Thank you,” he said. They looked puzzled.

 

“What for?” Christine asked.

 

_ Confessing to me. Making me confess to myself. Kissing me. Loving me. Being my soulmates.  _ “Everything,” he said simply, and his soulmates understood.

 

-oOo-

 

It was the first day of sophomore year, and Michael was almost vibrating with nervous energy. Today he would finally talk to his soulmates for the first time in fifty years. He had been on edge for at least a week before, anxiously rehearsing what he would say to them in his head. Mr. Reyes had been so annoyed by it that he rushed them out of the house that morning, wanting Michael to meet them sooner so he could stop fretting about all over the house. 

 

All of this meant that they got to school at least fifteen minutes before any of the buses did. That was good, though. They didn’t really want to be seen together, and coming in the same car every day would definitely ruin that. Michael would have to start taking the bus.

 

Michael quickly went by the main office to grab his schedule and his locker information. He already knew his schedule, though, because he had put to use his recently learned hacking skills to make sure he shared classes with Jeremy and Christine. 

 

...Okay, he admitted it was a little creepy, but he couldn’t bear the thought of not interacting with his soulmates when he was literally going to school just so he could befriend them. 

 

The time flew by as Michael went to his locker and made his way to Mr. Reyes’ homeroom, which he was soon to be a part of. The warning bell rang. 

 

Michael opened the door.

 

His heart hammered in his chest. He hadn’t felt this nervous since… well, he couldn’t remember. 

 

And there they were. 

 

His family. His soulmates. All reincarnated into one room, impossibly, improbably.

 

Chloe, Brooke, Jake, and Rich were talking, Jenna listening intently. Michael was glad that they had found each other again. From the looks of it, they hadn’t figured out who were actually soulmates yet, but he was glad all the same. 

 

Mr. Reyes was sitting at his desk, surveying the classroom. He sent Michael a smile when he walked in, then jerked his head towards the far side of the room. 

 

Jeremy and Christine weren’t sitting next to each other. She was sitting in the front of the row, eagerly awaiting the first day of school. Jeremy sat two seats behind her and one to the left, eyes anxiously darting from person to person, but always coming back to Christine. Michael stood frozen in the doorway. Jeremy’s eyes landed on him curiously. Caught in surprise eye contact, Michael stared back.

 

He was looking good, Michael thought. Acne-ridden, of course, and concerningly sweaty, but good. They had been staring at each other for too long, probably, but Michael didn’t care.

 

It was so good to see him again.

 

Jeremy took his eyes off of him with a start, blushing as he turned back to the front of the room. (He thought he was subtle, but Michael knew him three times over. He definitely had a crush on Christine.) 

 

As he walked to his seat, Mr. Reyes gave him a wink and Michael rolled his eyes. He sat down in the empty seat next to Jeremy and behind Christine. She looked up at him as he made his way past her to sit down. 

 

“Hi!” She chirped. Michael had missed her voice in the last fifty years. “Are you new? I don’t recognize you.”

 

“Yeah, I am,” he replied. “Just moved here from New Hampshire.” (That wasn’t even a full lie - Michael was born in Treegap, New Hampshire. He just didn’t stay there.)

 

“Oh, cool!” Christine grinned. Michael glanced at Jeremy. He was avidly watching the conversation, but looked too scared to join in. When he realized that Michael was watching him again, he blushed and looked away, just like before - except now he darted his eyes back up to look at Michael defiantly.

 

Christine was still talking, and Michael realized that he had missed her introduction while he had been focused on his other soulmate. He had only a second to feel guilty before he zoned back in and heard, “- sign-ups for the fall play are already up, and we’re always happy to have more boys in the program! So do you think you’ll audition?” She didn’t give him any time to answer before leaning in and stage-whispering, “Don’t worry about auditioning. We don’t have enough people to turn anyone down.”

 

Michael blinked. “Um. I don’t know, I’m not really a performer…” Christine looked sad. “But I did do tech at my last school, so maybe I can help with that?” (She never had to know that he was Jesse the mysterious substitute techie from last year.)

 

“Oh!” She perked up. “That would be great too! Tech sign-ups are right by audition sign-ups in the cafeteria. Although I guess you don’t really need to go all the way there, with Mr. Reyes as our homeroom teacher.”

 

“Oh, is he the drama teacher?” Michael asked. It was going to be so hard to pretend he didn’t know anything.

 

“Yep!” 

 

“Cool,” he said, and had only a moment to berate himself for sounding like an utter loser before the bell rang. Michael started and quickly turned towards the front of the room.

 

“Good morning, class. Welcome back for another year of school.” Mr. Reyes squinted. “You all are… sophomores, yes?” There was a general murmur of agreement throughout the room. “Well. You’ve got a lot ahead of you. Now, attendance!” He shuffled through some papers. “Daisy Ackerman.”

 

“Here!”

 

Michael zoned out the rest of attendance, instead focusing on his soulmates and cataloguing the differences in them since he saw them last. With reincarnation, they always had the same face and build and basic things like that, but some little things are always different. Like, this Jeremy had freckles. This Christine had slightly shorter hair. Jeremy’s nose was a little rounder, and Christine, who had always had an eclectic fashion sense, seemed to have an affinity for neon this time around.

 

“Michael Mell.”

 

“Here!”

 

Jeremy shifted beside him. “Your name’s Michael?”

 

Michael turned to look at him. “Yeah. What’s your name?”

 

“Jeremy,” he replied. “So, uh. You’re from New Hampshire?” Michael nodded. “Why’d you move down here?”

 

“My dad got a job in Middleborough, so -” He shrugged. “Here I am.”

 

“Cool,” Jeremy nodded. Michael tried not to let his fondness show as he watched him struggle with a conversation topic. “What classes are you taking?”

 

“Oh, um…” He dug around in his backpack for his schedule. “Algebra 2, English, Honors History, PE, Chemistry, Latin 1, and Drama.” 

 

“Hey, I’m in Latin 1 too!” Jeremy exclaimed. “Actually, I think I’m taking most of those classes… Can I see that?” Michael wordlessly handed the paper over. Jeremy took it and compared their schedules. “Oh wow, we have almost all the same classes,” he marveled. “All of them except for Drama and PE.” 

 

(Michael hadn’t wanted to torture himself with locker room nonsense.)

 

Michael took his paper back with a smile. “I guess we’ll get to know each other pretty well, huh?”

 

Jeremy smiled back at him. “I look forward to it.”

 

-oOo-

 

A month into the school year, things were going alright. Auditions had been held and the cast list was about to be announced. (They were doing Romeo and Juliet. Mr. Reyes could never pass up the classics, and Christine was so excited to get to do Shakespeare.) Classes were going well, and though most of it wasn’t anything very new to Michael, the intellectual challenge of critical thinking was enough to keep him satisfied. His friendships with Jeremy and Christine had progressed very well. He and Christine shared five classes as well - all the core subjects plus Drama. He had arranged his schedule so that he shared four classes with both of his soulmates and one class with each of them, plus PE with the rest of his family. 

 

They were doing alright.

 

-oOo-

 

Michael hated having to lie to his soulmates. It was halfway through the school year, and Jeremy kept hinting that he wanted to hang out at Michael’s house instead of his own all the time. Michael tried to make the excuse that he didn’t have an XBox or a Playstation or even a Wii, but eventually Jeremy just wanted to hang out for the sake of hanging out and learning more about the person who was rapidly becoming his best (and only) friend. 

 

But Michael couldn’t take him to his house. He couldn’t reveal his relationship to Mr. Reyes, and he couldn’t tell his soulmates that he loved them, and he couldn’t tell them how much he’d loved them three times before. 

 

It was  _ so hard _ to talk to them everyday and not tell them everything.

 

But he couldn’t. He didn’t know how they would take it and he couldn’t risk losing them again. He would anything to keep from losing them again. 

 

So he kept quiet, and he deflected Jeremy’s questions, and waited for a moment when he could let them in on their own secret. He didn’t know what he would do if the moment ever came.

 

-oOo-

 

Rich was acting… weird. Based on what Mr. Reyes had told him last year, he was a loner just like Jeremy. But ever since the start of sophomore year, he had been hanging out with the popular kids, which wasn’t a bad thing in and of itself (especially since his soulmate was one of them). The bad thing was that Rich wasn’t acting like the person that Michael knew him to be. And after over a hundred and fifty years of considering each other brothers, he knew how he should be acting. And it wasn’t like this.

 

He was loud, and rambunctious, and wasn’t very nice to the girls that Michael saw him hanging out with. 

 

He wasn’t very nice to Michael, either.

 

About a month and a half into the school year, he started bullying Jeremy, and Michael by extension. He drew on their lockers and on their backpacks, teased them for being gay (which, yeah, but not  _ yet), _ called them slurs that shouldn’t have been flying so easily out of his mouth, considering what Michael knew about his brother and his soulmate.

 

And Michael had to act like he was just some stranger who was being mean. It tore him up inside, to not be able to ask him what was going on or if he was okay - but a cover is a cover, and Michael’s cover was “new kid who definitely doesn’t already know anyone because they used to be immortal together.” 

 

Michael would do anything to keep from losing his soulmates again. Even watch his brother self-destruct into something he’s not.

 

-oOo-

 

Sophomore year came and went, and Michael was thoroughly involved now in his soulmate’s lives. He was Jeremy’s best friend, and they did everything together that summer - except see Christine, Michael’s other new best friend, because Jeremy was too nervous to interact with her on account of his hopeless crush on her. He was infinitely jealous of Michael and the way that he was friends with her so easily. Well, what could he say? It’s not like he hadn’t done it before.

 

Junior year arrived, and with it, a whole new host of problems. The first play rehearsal was held a few weeks into September, and it was just… a lot.

 

Christine was devastated that they weren’t being true to Shakespeare. (The zombies had been Michael’s idea, as a tribute to Apocalypse of the Damned. He wished he could brag about that to Jeremy.)

 

The drama club increased by half, and it was the most popular half of the school. Michael wondered what drew them to this, to their family. Was it their subconscious recognizing the people they were meant to be with? Or was it just peer pressure after being in Mr. Reyes’ homeroom for two years?

 

But the most wild thing that happened was what Jeremy told him as they were playing AotD at his house and hour later. Rich offered him a SQUIP. 

 

Michael hadn’t really heard of them before, but as soon as Jeremy told him what Rich had said, all of the answers to his questions about Rich slotted neatly into place. He was acting strange because of his SQUIP. He was bullying them because of his SQUIP. He was cool and popular now because of his SQUIP.

 

Michael tried to talk Jeremy out of it, but the best he could do was come with him. It would have to be enough. He hoped it would turn out okay.

 

-oOo-

 

It didn’t turn out okay.

 

Ten minutes into Jeremy having a SQUIP, and he’d already abandoned him in favor of pretty girls - and not even the one that he had a crush on! As the month wore on, nothing improved.

 

Jeremy apparently couldn’t see him now, which hurt more than Michael would like to admit. As much as he wanted to hate Jeremy for it, he could only think of how much of a low point he must have been at for popularity to be the one thing he wanted most, and a SQUIP the best way to get it. He tried to hate him, and felt only pity instead.

 

Michael spent a lot more time hanging out with Christine now that Jeremy had decided he wasn’t worth more than his social status. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed her company. He loved watching her ramble on about whatever she was passionate about and laughing with her about stupid jokes and introducing her to new music and new foods and new games. Though his relationship with her had never been and will never be romantic, he was still grateful that he got to have her as a soulmate.

 

And when Jake Dillinger asked her out, he knew that they weren’t meant to be. But he wanted her to be happy, so when she asked for his advice, he told her not to let her dreams be dreams. It was a quote that he wished he could live by.

 

Jake Dillinger ended up taking Christine to his Halloween party. Michael wasn’t invited, but he went anyway. He watched how Jake treated her throughout the night and got more and more angry about it. He didn’t dress up like they agreed they would, he wasn’t polite to her, he slept with his ex when he was supposed to be on a date with Christine?! Michael couldn’t help but think that if he were dating Christine, he would be a far superior boyfriend. And he had evidence to prove his point.

 

At some point, Michael couldn’t take watching her anymore, and went to find somewhere he wouldn’t be disturbed. By some miracle, no one was waiting for the bathroom, so he went right in and flopped down in the tub, ready to wallow in his eternal teenage angst.

 

And then Jeremy walked in.

 

And we all know what happened with that trainwreck.

 

-oOo-

 

Rich set a fire and he burned down the house. 

 

Now Michael couldn’t put it off anymore. He had to go see his brother.

 

And actually… he might as well bring along some more family.

 

Michael, Miles, and Mr. Reyes entered Rich’s hospital room. The fire had happened only a day ago, and Rich was covered in full body bandages, his face the only skin visible. At the moment, he was sleeping.

 

Miles settled down into the chair next to his bed, watching his brother with worried eyes. “I’ll stay here until he wakes up.” As soon as he heard about the fire, he had told his professors he had a family emergency and got on the first plane to New Jersey. “I can’t lose my baby brother again,” he had told Michael over the phone. “I just can’t.”

 

Mr. Reyes and Michael nodded and sat down as well. “We’ll tell him everything when he does,” Mr. Reyes said. 

 

The three of them sat there for hours. Luckily, it was a weekend, so none of them had to worry about missing school or work, but even if it had been a weekday, they would still be there. Their brother was more important than any arbitrary education system. 

 

When Rich woke up for the first time, he wasn’t very coherent. He blearily looked around, saw Miles, and smiled. Then he looked further and saw Mr. Reyes and Michael. His brow creased with confusion. “Wha - Mi -” He tried to say, then winced in pain. Michael pressed the button that called the nurse, but by the time she got there, he was unconscious again.

 

Rich woke up for real the next day. Michael and Mr. Reyes had gone to get food from the vending machine outside, and Miles could not be moved from his vigil.

 

When Rich woke up, the first thing he saw was Miles, half-asleep, clothes rumpled from sitting in a chair for a day. “Miles?” He croaked out.

 

Miles came to with a start. “Rich!” He exclaimed. “You’re awake!”

 

“Not so loud, my head hurts,” Rich whined. He moved to grab his head, but found he couldn’t. He looked down and discovered the presence of IV tubes and bandages and started to panic. “What - what happened, why can’t I -”

 

“Rich, Rich, calm down,” Miles said. “You’re going to be alright.” He pressed the button that called the nurse. “As for what happened…” He sighed. “What do you remember?”

 

Rich frowned. “Jake’s Halloween party,” he said. “A lot of shit went down. No one had any fucking Mountain Dew Red. I couldn’t take it anymore, and drinking wasn’t enough, so I…” He swallowed. “I found an empty trash can, and…” He trailed off.

 

“You set Jake Dillinger’s house on fire,” Miles finished grimly. 

 

“Yeah,” Rich said glumly.

 

“Thank god he’s loaded,” said Michael from the door. “Otherwise there’d be no hope for him.”

 

Miles and Rich both started and turned towards the door. Michael sauntered in and handed Miles two bags of Cheez-Its. 

 

“Thanks,” Miles said dubiously. “Where’s Mr. Re -”

 

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing here, nerdlord?” Rich interrupted brusquely. Miles stared at him in a vaguely disappointed manner. Michael stared back at his bully coolly, trying not to show any hurt. He should have been used to this from Rich by now.

 

“I’m here to make sure that you’re okay, asshole.” 

 

“Hey, hey, let’s not fight -” Miles interjected.

 

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Rich said. “I’ve done nothing but bully you for the last year.” Was that a glimmer of regret in his eyes?  _ “Why _ are you  _ here?” _

 

Michael dropped the cool, confident attitude and sat down heavily. “You’ve done so much more than that, Rich.” He spoke with the wisdom of someone far older than him, and it somehow almost didn’t sound wrong. “First things first: is your SQUIP off?”

 

“How do you -” Rich started to ask. 

 

“I’ve got mad internet skills.” Michael cracked a small smile. “Also Jeremy told me about it when you offered him one.”

 

“Oh.” Rich was silent for a moment, taking inventory of his mind. “It’s… it’s off. I think.” He frowned. “I don’t know if it’s gone forever or just damaged from the fire.” He looked up at Michael. “Do you know where I can find some Mountain Dew Red?”

 

Michael smiled. “Actually, I do.”

 

Rich’s eyes widened. “You - you do? Do you have any with you? I need it, please -”

 

“I don’t have any with me, but I can bring some later,” Michael offered. “Why is it so important?”

 

“Green to turn it on, red to turn it off,” Rich said. “They weren’t…  _ super _ imaginative with it.”

 

Miles spoke up after watching this whole conversation play out. “So… what  _ is _ a SQUIP? Michael’s told me the basics, but I still don’t really get it.”

 

“...Okay. We’ll go over how the two of you know each other later.” Michael and Miles shared a knowing look. “It’s a gray oblong pill. Quantum nanotechnology CPU. The quantum computer in the pill travels through your blood until it implants in your brain and tells you what to do,” Rich recited like it was something he’d said hundreds of times. “It helps you to be cool. Or, at least it’s supposed to. I think it’s got a really fucked up idea of what ‘cool’ is.”

 

“So is that why you’ve been acting different?” Michael asked. “It was telling you how to be cool?”

 

“Yeah,” Rich nodded. “Wait, how do you know it was different? You only came here last year, after I got a SQUIP.”

 

Michael and Miles glanced at each other. “Don’t worry about it,” Miles said, resting a hand on his brother’s bandaged arm. “We’ll tell you later.”

 

“Okay. Sure. Yeah. This is my life now, I guess.” Rich laughed humorlessly. “My brother and the guy I bully - sorry about that, by the way - are bosom buddies and keeping secrets from me about me! Great. Fine. Anything else I should know?” He asked sardonically.

 

Mr. Reyes stepped into the room, bearing more vending machine snacks. “Rich! You’re awake!”

 

Rich looked incredulously at his brother. “Our fucking  _ drama teacher _ is in on it?”

 

“Rich, I promise we will tell you everything soon,” Michael promised. “But first we need to know everything about SQUIPs. I need to save my sou - my best friend.” He leveled Rich with a serious look. “Now, what can you tell us about SQUIPs?”

 

-oOo-

 

Michael sat in the tech booth, watching the play intently. They were doing really good. In fact, they were doing a little  _ too _ good. The actors all delivered their lines perfectly, as if they were robots programmed to know every word of the play.

 

_ As if they were robots… _

 

Michael stood up abruptly. 

 

“Michael?” Asked Hugo, the other techie in the booth.

 

“I need to go,” said Michael. And he ran out of the booth, around to the backstage entrance. He hoped he wouldn’t be too late.

 

-oOo-

 

Jeremy watched as the other cast members drank from the beaker. They didn’t seem to experience any pain from activation, but he knew the squips were in there. Mr. Reyes had insisted on trying it first to make sure that it was safe, citing the arsenic and old lace debacle from last year. The squip had seemed more interested in Mr. Reyes’ memories than the others, although Jeremy couldn’t imagine why. He was just a washed-up high school drama teacher. What could possibly be so interesting in his head?

 

“Up up down down left right A!”

 

Mr. Reyes grabbed in head as if in pain, then shook it off and looked at Jeremy, an angry expression on his face. “You needy, pathetic, self-centered students! You think I wanted to teach high school drama? In New Jersey?! I could be so much more. I’ve  _ been _ so much more. My squip says I can go all the way to Broadway! I just have to keep you from ruining my big night…” The teacher advanced on him, but Jeremy managed to evade him.

 

“Michael!” 

 

“Don’t do this,” the squip called out. It was looking a little fuzzy at the edges.

 

“Call Michael!” Jeremy desperately tried to reach his phone. 

 

“I’m going to improve your life, Jeremy, if I have to take over the entire student body to do it!” The squip’s voice crackled now, and its body was glitching like crazy.

 

“Michael makes an entrance!” Michael skidded to a stop backstage. Jeremy felt something relax in his chest, relieved.

 

“Michael!”

 

“I was just watching from the tech booth, thinking, ‘this is pretty good for a school play.’ Then I was like, ‘THIS IS WAY TOO GOOD FOR A SCHOOL PLAY!’ They’ve all been SQUIPed, right?”

 

A thought occurred to Jeremy. “Y-yeah, how did you -”

 

“A little birdie whose name rhymes with ‘bitch’ told me about its plan.” Michael grinned, radiant. “So I came prepared.” He held aloft a bottle of Mountain Dew Red, and Jeremy could have cried tears of happiness.

 

"Is that -?" 

 

"Mountain Dew Red!" Michael finished the sentence for him. "Told you I did my research!"

  
  
"That's amazing! Give it to me!"

  
  
Michael held it out like he was going to give it to him, but then seem to second guess himself, holding the Mountain Dew close to his body, fiercely possessive of it. "Okay. Wait. No."

  
  
"But I need it!" 

  
  
“And I need an apology.” Michael said firmly. Jeremy flinched. “I think that’s in order, I mean, you treat me like I don’t exist for months, blow me off when I try to help you -”

  
  
“Fine, I'm -” The word was stopped in his throat. Literally.

  
  
“Vocal chords: block.” The SQUIP smirked. Jeremy desperately tried to finish his apology, but to no avail.

  
  
“Seriously? Is it that hard to say sorry?” Michael said, incredulously and a little hurt.

  
  
“YYYYEEEES!” Jeremy gasped and pleaded. “C'mon, man, this is important!”

  
  
“Well, this is important to me! It's a gesture! Gestures matter!” Michael said while gesturing around so much that Jeremy would have been worried that he was going to spill the Mountain Dew if it didn’t have the cap on.

  
  
“Kung Fu fists: activate,” the SQUIP ordered from the sidelines, idly picking its nails.

  
  
Jeremy felt his body become not his own again as it began to swing his fists at Michael. “This is so you! You love to feel superior, just because you listen to music on vinyl and eat eel in your sushi and don’t care about being popular!” 

  
  
“Of course I care!” Michael exclaimed, narrowly dodging a hit. “I just know it's never gonna happen!”  _ I know it  _ can’t _ happen, _ he thought.  _ I’ve lived two hundred years trying to blend into the background. _

  
  
“So you resent me because I didn’t give up like you did?” Jeremy didn’t know how to cope with this confusing new cocktail of emotions this conversation was giving him. Why couldn’t other people’s motivations be easy to understand, like in Apocalypse of the Damned? Zombies only wanted brains, not social capital or best friends.

  
  
“I don’t resent you! I’m jealous you try!”  _ I’m jealous you won’t have to leave to keep your secret after less than ten years. _

  
  
“Well I’m jealous you don’t!” 

  
  
“Then why are you hitting me?” Michael panted.

  
  
“I’m not trying to!” Jeremy’s body aimed a left hook at Michael’s face.

  
  
Michael ducked and brought his hands up to protect his face. “Don’t try harder!”

  
  
“It’s- Not- Me- It’s- My- SQUIP!” Jeremy finally managed to wrestle control of his body back. He looked at Michael, chest heaving up and down from the exertion. “It’s taking over my body! I need your help! I’M SORRY!”   
  


 

Michael ran to Jeremy and tried to hold him down, but the SQUIP wouldn’t let him stay still. Jake shuffled in on his crutches. Michael had a stupid idea.

  
  
“Oh, hey, Jake?” He called out. Jake stopped and turned to look at them. “This is gonna sound weird, but if I hold down Jeremy, can you make him drink this Mountain Dew Red?”

  
  
Jake considered it for a moment. He shrugged. “Actually, that doesn't sound weird at all.”

  
  
“Up up down down left right A!” The SQUIP snapped. Its body was starting to look kind of fuzzy around the edges. Jeremy couldn’t spare a thought to that though, not when it kept taking over his friends.

  
  
Jake grabbed his head in pain, dropping his crutches as he did. Jeremy and Michael watched in fear as he stood back up without his crutches.

 

“It healed your legs?!” Jeremy exclaimed.

 

“Nope!” Jake said cheerfully. “But I can’t feel the pain.” He smiled menacingly and advanced on the two of them. “I was already pretty boss before, now I'm totally boss and then some more! I'm living the upgrade! God, I love me!”

 

As Jeremy and Michael dodged Jake, Brooke and Chloe cut them off while speaking in unsettling tandem. “There you are, Jeremy.”

  
  
“I just want you to know I'm not mad that you broke my heart and then slept with my best friend.”

  
  
“And I'm not mad you dated my best friend and wouldn't sleep with me.”

  
  
Brooke turned to Chloe, surprised. “He didn't sleep with you?”

  
  
“No,” Chloe said sadly. 

  
  
“He didn't sleep with me!”

  
  
“No!”

  
  
“Oh my god, why was I so jealous of you? You were jealous of me? That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me! Sisters forever! Jinx!” As the two of them talked, the sound of their voices mingling was reminiscent of feedback.

 

“Michael, the bottle! There's still a few drops left!” Jeremy called from the other side of the girls.

  
  
“How am I supposed to get past them?” Michael asked helplessly.

  
  
“Apocalypse of the Damned! Level nine!”

  
  
“The cafetorium!” They said together.

  
  
“Got it!”

 

Michael performed some badass parkour maneuvers he had picked up over the last two hundred years and met Jeremy on the other side of the SQUIPed girls, ready to fight whatever the SQUIP threw at them next.

 

Jenna Rolan emerged after they had defeated the other SQUIPed cast members like a final boss in a video game. She eyed them with a gleam of nefarious triumph in her smirk. “I know what you're doing, Michael. I know what everyone's doing! All the time!”

  
  
“I just feel so connected to you guys right now!” Chorused the SQUIPed cast members.

  
  
Jeremy raised the Mountain Dew Red to his lips, ready to end this once and for all. “You don't want to drink that, Jeremy!” His SQUIP yelled, almost frantic.

  
  
“Why not?” He challenged defiantly.

  
  
“Because then you'll never be with her!” The SQUIP gestured towards the other end of the room, where Christine was illuminated by a single spotlight. Spellbound, he moved towards her, barely noticing as Michael was overtaken by the SQUIPed zombies behind him.

  
  
“You’re the person I want to be with every day. And this is something that I've been afraid to tell you,” she said. Jeremy stepped toward her, raising a hand as if to touch her. She gazed up at him, only blind love in her eyes. Jeremy ripped his hand away from her and turned to the SQUIP.

  
  
“That is not Christine,” he said vehemently.

  
  
“I assure you, it is! Only her fears and insecurities have been removed,” the SQUIP said. Before Jeremy could respond, Christine had taken his hand and he turned to face her again.

  
  
“You're the guy I am so kinda into,” she said. “The guy I am totally into. This feeling is new.” She blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before confessing. “Jeremy, I love you.”

  
  
Jeremy’s mouth hung open. His crush just said she loves him! But she also said that it was a new feeling. His resolve to end the SQUIP hardened. He could make Christine love him for real! He didn’t need a computer brainwashing her! He turned, ready to give the SQUIP a piece of his mind, when he heard a sound that chilled him to the bone.

 

Behind him, within the mob of SQUIPed zombies, Michael screamed. 

 

“AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” The mob cleared a semi-circle around him so that he had a clear line of sight to Jeremy and Christine. Jeremy’s heart sank. They had gotten to his best friend.

  
  
The SQUIP appeared in front of its new initiate, just a fuzzy shape with no definition other than a vaguely human shape. “Information received. Information processed… so. It seems like Reyes  _ was _ telling the truth.”

 

Michael seemed caught off guard. Jeremy wondered what Mr. Reyes knew about Michael that was so important. “What - what do you mean? The truth about what?”

  
  
“Oh, you know. Nothing much. Just the key to my plan to rule the world  _ forever.” _ Jeremy could practically hear its evil grin, despite its current lack of a face.

  
  
Michael’s worst fears were confirmed. The blood drained out of his face. “Oh no.” He had already survived one person wanting the secret to immortality back in 1893. Only now, there was no shotgun or Brooke to wield it - or any way to kill the SQUIP. The Mountain Dew Red was gone, and now the SQUIP knew the secret to immortality.

  
  
“What are you talking about?” Jeremy asked, Christine forgotten behind him. She stared into the distance with a vacant smile.

  
  
“Oh, you don’t know? You mean your best friend Michael here hasn’t told you?” The SQUIP was taunting him. Jeremy knew the SQUIP was taunting him, but he still couldn’t help but take the bait and plant the seed of doubt in his mind.

  
  
“Michael tells me everything! You’re lying… right?” Jeremy declared uncertainly. The SQUIP only cackled. Clearly he had studied the databases of evil villain laughter.

  
  
Jeremy turned to his best friend, almost scared to ask. “...Michael?”

  
  
Michael looked at the ground instead of his face. He closed his eyes in defeat. “...I’m sorry, Jeremy.”

  
  
“No,” Jeremy said, his voice raw.

  
  
“I’m still your friend,” Michael said, attempting to salvage what he could of this situation. He laughed a little. “Actually, if anything, I’m your friend even more because of it.”

  
  
“So what is it? What were you hiding from me for the last two years?” Jeremy demanded. Michael didn’t know what to say.

  
  
The SQUIP cut in. “Why don’t I just show you?”

  
  
Jeremy’s brow furrowed. “What - AAAAAGGGHHHH!” His back arched as he absorbed the influx of information that was Michael’s memories.

  
  
_ Mr. Reyes taking him in. _

 

_ Brooke. Rich. Miles. _

 

_ “That’s where I carved an R!” _

 

_ He should have died. _

 

_ They all should have died. _

 

_ Travelling like he couldn’t stop. _

 

_ Christine in a Victorian-era dress in the woods. Jeremy holding a magnifying glass and a book, pacing in a circle. _

 

_ A man in a yellow suit. _

 

_ Brooke holding a bloodied shotgun above her head. _

 

_ Christine’s grave.  _

 

_ Seeing Jeremy and Christine again, years later. _

 

_ The wreckage of a burning car, his soulmates slumped against their seats, lifeless. _

 

_ Taking them out to dinner to celebrate their graduation. _

 

_ Being too scared to follow them away. _

 

_ “We’ve been immortal for over a hundred and fifty years.” _

 

_ Travelling. _

 

_ Travelling. _

 

_ Travelling. _

 

_ “You can’t tell me you haven’t at least thought about it.” _

 

_ Fifty years of waiting. _

 

_ Fifty years of staying in a secluded cabin in the woods. _

 

_ Until - _

 

_ There they are. _

 

_ Seeing Mr. Reyes again. _

 

_ “I’m here to help you remember.” _

 

_ “You said… ‘our family?’” _

 

_ Seeing Miles again. _

 

_ “But Michael…”  _

 

_ “I remember.” _

 

_ Befriending his soulmates. _

 

_ (Again.) _

 

_ “It’s called a SQUIP.” _

 

_ “Get out of the way, loser.” _

 

_ “I’m here to make sure that you’re okay, asshole.” _

 

_ “THIS IS WAY TOO GOOD FOR A SCHOOL PLAY!” _

 

_ “Why don’t I just show you?” _

 

With a scream, the SQUIPed cast members overloaded on two hundred and twenty four years of memories.

 

The SQUIP didn’t even make it to the end of the highlights reel.

 

-oOo-

 

“Are you sure you’re okay? I can get you some more food if you want.”

 

“More of that shitty jello? I’ll pass, thanks.”

 

“What about you, Brooke?”

 

“I’m good. But thanks, Miles.”

 

Footsteps moving closer to him. “Michael still asleep?”

 

“Yeah. The doctors say he should be waking up soon, though.”

 

Michael pried his eyes open, feeling a headache as soon as he saw light. “’m awake now,” he mumbled.

 

“It lives!” A blurry drama teacher-shaped figure moved in his direction. “How are you feeling, Michael?”

 

“Head hurts,” he slurred.

 

“That’s normal, buddy. What do you remember?”

 

But Michael was already unconscious.

 

-oOo-

 

Michael woke up for real to the sound of talking. 

 

“Do you remember that time you hid Miles’ suspenders? He couldn’t find them for days.”

 

A giggle. “That was so funny. He didn’t have belt loops!”

 

“Yeah, and I lived in constant fear of my pants falling down for three days,” a third voice said.

 

“C’mon, bro, it was funny!”

 

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll figure out some way to get revenge for it. Just you wait,” Miles said. Brooke and Rich laughed.

 

Michael opened his eyes. He was in a hospital room. The same hospital room that he had been in before when he visited Rich, in fact. Rich was still in his bed, but now Brooke was occupying the bed next to him. Miles sat in between their beds, joking around and reminiscing. 

 

“It’s good to see them together, isn’t it?”

 

Michael turned. Mr. Reyes sat on the other side of his bed, eyes crinkled at the corners as he watched his foster children interact. “Just like old times.”

 

Michael looked back over to his siblings. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Just like old times.”

 

At the sound of his voice, his siblings turned and Miles walked over to his bed. “Michael!”

 

“So you’ve finally joined us in the land of the living,” Rich commented sardonically.

 

Brooke smiled warmly at him. “It’s good to see you again, Michael.”

 

Michael smiled back. “It’s good to see you, too.” He looked around the room, realizing what they had been talking about before. “Wait - do you all remember?”

 

“Yeah,” Brooke said. “When the SQUIP showed Jeremy your memories, it also showed all of us. It unlocked our own memories and overloaded on all the information.”

 

“You did it, Michael,” Rich said. “You didn’t even have to use the Mountain Dew Red.”

 

Michael took all of this in, mind whirling. It felt a little like everything he knew had been knocked out from under him. He hadn’t really planned on telling everyone about their past lives, and he certainly hadn’t planned projecting his memories into their minds by way of quantum supercomputer. When he thought about the future, he used to see himself, and maybe Mr. Reyes with him, just living their lives, maybe taking up travelling again. But now… now there was everyone else to think about. 

 

It was good, though. It was beyond everything he’d ever hoped for. Michael was almost glad that they learned about it this way. It cut out the middle step of making sure that they actually believed him. Of course, he would rather have done without the evil chill pill, but. He was glad of how things had ended up.

 

“Where’s everyone else?” He asked his family. (His  _ family, _ they were back to him and he would never have to leave them again -)

 

“Jeremy and Christine are in the room next to us, and Chloe, Jake, and Jenna are in the next room over,” Mr. Reyes explained. “The doctors aren’t really sure what happened to you all. I don’t think they’ll keep you here, though.”

 

“I told them that they should pass it off as a bad ecstasy trip, but no one agreed with me,” Rich complained.

 

“And I told you that it would be much easier to pass it off as a gas leak, idiot,” Brooke said. “Do you want to implicate us all in drug abuse?” Rich grumbled, but conceded her point.

 

“Can I - can I see them?” Michael asked. He didn’t need to specify. They all knew who he wanted.

 

Mr. Reyes stood up. “Of course,” he said. “Can you stand?”

 

-

 

Michael walked feebly into Jeremy and Christine’s room, his hand sweating on Mr. Reyes’ arm. Jeremy and Christine were awake and talking to each other, but they grew quiet as soon as they saw Michael. Mr. Reyes patted Michael on the shoulder and left. 

 

The soulmates could only stare at each other. Michael was frozen in place on the threshold, Jeremy and Christine in their hospital beds. They looked… fine. Shaken, of course, and a little pale, but overall fine. 

 

To Michael, they were beautiful.

 

They stared at each other a moment more.

 

“Michael,” Jeremy said, and the dam broke. Michael rushed into the room and made straight for Jeremy’s bed. He wished their beds were closer so that he could hug both of them, but he would just have to make do.

 

He barrelled into Jeremy and held him close - breathed in the scent of his hair and his skin and it was all overlaid with the clinical smell of hospitals but it was  _ okay,  _ he was  _ okay - _

 

And Jeremy grabbed his chin and kissed him.

 

It was a kiss that said a lot of things -  _ I missed you _ and  _ I’m so sorry _ and  _ it’s so good to see you again _ and  _ I love you _ most of all. 

 

Michael pulled back from the kiss, knees weak, and turned to Christine. She smiled at him in the same way that she used to.

 

“Come here,” she said. And Michael did.

 

He staggered the few feet to her bed and all but collapsed into her, holding her close the same way that he had held Jeremy a few moments ago. She smelled like something vaguely fruity - probably her shampoo - and she hugged him tight to her. He stayed there in her arms, taking comfort in the contact for a moment longer, then pulled back and pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

 

“Thank you,” he said.

 

“For what?” She asked.

 

“For… for being there for me.” Michael caught Jeremy in his gaze. “You too. I don’t know what I’d be without the both of you, so… thank you.”

 

Tears shimmered in Jeremy’s eyes - happy tears. Michael couldn’t help himself anymore. He clambered onto Jeremy’s shitty hospital bed and beckoned for Christine to join them. She flopped down, half on top of both of them, and the three of them lay there, content.

 

“We’re going to need to talk about it,” Christine remarked after a few minutes had gone by.

 

“We can do that later,” Michael said. “Right now, we’ve got all the time in the world.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> and then they live happily ever after with their soulmates!
> 
> michael stays with jerm and chris even though he doesn't age with them (they take great fun in confusing people with their "age difference") and once they die, michael goes back to whatever the fuck science organization i said and dies so that they can all be reincarnated and find each other again.
> 
> go read the other bmc big bang fics! i haven't read them yet because i've been busy writing this but i'm sure they're really good! (tumblr: bmcrbb for masterposts)
> 
> talk to me on tumblr: aroacethetic-shitpost


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